Shop Organization

Gift Horse PowerThe shop is only a year and a half own and I am constantly cleaning and organizing. Tools have accumulated quicker than I can file them.
Kristin’s Grandfather has been giving me tools like crazy.Just two weeks ago(along with yard tools and some nice portable power tools) I received the following:
He still had the original documentation. I am not sure what to do with it since I have a large floor press. Love the design.
Salvage yardI also have a problem with coll...

Yesterday I sold my Ridgid (sniff).Goodbye little buddy.
But…... I got my new saw delivered and set up too… : )
manuals galoreand wired with a dedicated circuit today.
But along with mo tools/mo problems I started feeling another space crunch. My bench is tall so I can’t outfeed onto it without lowering it or raising the saw. I got stressed about it last night and woke up thinking about my shop layout.
So I reread a few articles and decided to try a diagonal la...

Planer cartI decided to build a flip top cart for my planer. I looked through several forums, magazines, and plans and decided on a hybrid of the Wood and Woodsmith plans.
My drawings and notes.
I am using plywood left from building the shop. It is a rough luan. A different look for shop stuff.
My first rip with the SawStop. Very cool. Dead accurate. So different from using my little Ridgid.
The top is made of two matching pieces. I cut a dado in the top to house a 1/2” ste...

I started today by gluing up the top.
Doh! #1I decided to use Dominos for the project and did not pick the right size so I cut all the way through the case.
Fix. I decided to use through Dominos for the project.
Actually the shelves are held in by through Dominos and a false dado I created by layering plywood on the outer pieces. Glue and staples hold the second layer on.
Left to right = bottom to top of side
Case AssemblyAssembly is a snap with the Dominos. They hold the p...

Back to the shop to save the top.
I started by edging all sides with redwood, thus covering the misplaced hole.
I carefully marked the new holes.
I clamped the top to my workbench and dragged the drill press over for a more precise hole placement.
Flip it..
Cut off saw and bar stock.
Testing.
I hammered in the bar after fudging with some washers and a spacer or two. The case hole is 1/16” larger than the bar.
Watch it spin…
StopsI installed flip tabs ...

StabilityThe flip top had a little play in between the flimsy tabs, I had a plan to stabilize it.. First, I shimmed the top level.
I drilled a bolt hole through the side into the edge of the top.
Next: Drilling for the threaded inserts.
Inserting the threaded inserts
Eye bolts through the side and into the inserts. X 4 = rock solid.
With all the bolts I decided to test the stability and weight handling capacity.
Attaching the planerI set the planer on the top and marked the ...

With the new saw I have needed to make a new crosscut sled. I have been struggling with cutting large plywood panels so I also decided to make a panel cutting sled based on Norm's design
Panel Sled
I started by planing some white oak to fit in the miter slots.
The runners are set just below the table surface.
I attached the runner to a 3 foot run of plywood….
.... and ran the ply through the saw.
I attached a fence to the back of the sled square to the cut edge.
It...

Time to modify the workbench.
I built the bench a year ago. Currently it has a simple shelf for storage.
The plan is to build a simple cabinet with drawers to store hand tools, possibly my routers, and other “stuff” Here is a pic of the plan from Matthew Teague’s Setting up Shop (same place I got the bench plan).
The drawers are weird. The bottoms are glued and stapled up onto the box. The bottom then becomes the runners.
—————&...

Drawer Parts Galore
I started by squaring some panels to the width of the drawers. To save time I rabbeted the entire panel. Later I would rip them to create the sized drawer fronts.
Testing the drawer front fit. You can see the drawer pieces in each cubby awaiting their fronts.
The backs of the drawers are held by dadoes 1/2” in from the back of the drawer. I got to spend some quality time with the new crosscut sled.If you squint you can see that there is another 1/2”...

It was a bit dreary out today. I had a little tea in the afternoon and that motivated me to get out and finish the cabinet.
Getting ready to assemble ten drawers.
The plan: Staple the heck out of it.Getting ready to assemble ten drawers.
With the four sides together I applied a bead of glue along the bottom edge.You can see the alignment mark. The ply panel is glued and stapled flush to the drawer front.
The finished “masterwork”
Notice the copious plane shavi...

Old PicsI was not getting anywhere with my prior shop setup in which I had moved the workbench in front of the doors.d This did enable me to walk around the workbench, but blocked the door. The saw was set up in the middle of the room at a diagonal to allow for longer cuts. Trash and junk from projects had reached critical mass.
So I pulled a bunch of the equipment out onto the porch,
New PicsI pushed stuff around for a few hours and ingested a cup or so of dust while I swept. Here ar...

It was time to set the workbench up for hand tool use. We never bothered to drill holes for the bench dogs.I used a forstner bit to drill the dog holes every five inches and in line with the vise.We decided to add a bench stop as well. It it is a simple plywood board attached with knobs.
Here Kris routs the 3/8 “slots for the knob bolts.I buy lawn mower knobs which only cost $3 per pair instead of the Rocker price of $6 or so for “jig-it” knobs.The plywood can be raised u...